Arms and the man … Hugh Laurie as Roper and Elizabeth Debicki as Jed on location at the Maricel Hotel and Spa, Mallorca.
Photograph: Des Willie/BBC/The Ink Factory

With sex, action and opulent settings, spy drama The Night Manager has been a hit for the BBC: it cost around £3m per episode, but each one has pulled in some eight million viewers. Danish director Susanne Bier said in a Radio Times interview: “It was deliberate to make it very sexy. The story takes place in a very lavish world – the world of Richard Roper – and part of the excitement is that Jonathan Pine, and the audience, get sucked into this world.”

Based on John le Carré’s 1993 novel about an arms dealer, adapted and updated to be based on the Arab spring, the plot in brief is that former British soldier Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) is recruited by intelligence officer Angela Burr (Olivia Colman) to get inside the inner circle of arms dealer Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie). From there, it all gets very shadowy.

But the glamorous locations in which the murky plot plays out are manna for setjetters. And the travel industry has been quick to take advantage, with companies including Tripadvisor’s Vacation Rentals promoting stays in towns viewers will have gazed at in the show. The drama draws to a close this weekend, so fans in the early stages of withdrawal can plan to follow in the footsteps of the show’s stars – from Mallorca to Marrakech and the Matterhorn.

Egypt AKA Marrakech

Like the plot of The Night Manager, the filming featured all sorts of subterfuge. Cairo wasn’t visited at all and instead, the Es Saadi riad in Marrakech plays the Egyptian hotel (the Nefertiti), where Pine is night manager and outside which demonstrations kick off in episode one. The riad is overlooked by the Atlas mountains and set in 20 acres of gardens, with pool, spa and hammam. Morocco is always popular with filmmakers because of tax breaks and the fact that it can “portray” any number of locations – it even doubled for Tehran in Homeland. Rooms in April can cost up to £200 – but those without Roper’s cash can pop into the bar for a mint tea.•Doubles from £100 B&B, essaadi.com

Riffelalp Resort, Zermatt

Jonathan Pine is working in another luxurious hotel, in Zermatt, when he first meets Roper. Meisters Hotel doesn’t exist, but the views of the Matterhorn were filmed at the famous Riffelalp Resort 2222, which is named for its altitude and can only be reached by the Gornegrat railway. Cosy wood-panelled rooms with giant TVs don’t come cheap here – a two-night weekend in April comes in just shy of £990. But the views, as they say, are priceless – and free, if you just want to come up for a wander around.•Doubles from £485 half-board, riffelalp.com

Chalet Hotel Schönegg in, Zermatt

Pine and Burr’s first meeting was filmed in the restaurant of Chalet Hotel Schönegg in Zermatt. This hospitable little pine-clad place, with oversized pitched roofs, has four stars and great Matterhorn views. Pine and Burr also take a trip on the scenic Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn railway (matterhorngotthardbahn.ch).•Doubles from £130 B&B, schonegg.ch

Carrer de la Marina, Port de Soller

In Port de Soller, ‘you might see Roman Abramovich’s yacht moored off the coast because the area has been colonised by the super rich. Never mind.’ Photograph: Alamy

Pine leaves Roper’s mansion for a trip out with Roper’s son, Daniel, and takes the opportunity to have a clandestine meeting with Burr. The street where Pine and Burr meet is Carrer de la Marina, the corniche that runs along the sea front in Port de Soller. This postcard-perfect port town is in the north of Mallorca and, if you squint, you might see Roman Abramovich’s yacht moored off the coast because the area has been colonised by the super rich. Never mind. Grab an ice-cream at an outdoor table at Domenico, a little pizza parlour at number 44, that also does great gelato. Apparently, the orange flavour is not to be missed.

Ca’s Patró March, Cala Deià

Roper and party at exclusive Ca’s Patró March fish restaurant in Cala Deià. Photograph: BBC

Fishy goings on are ten a penny in The Night Manager, but possibly the fishiest of all is the dinner that evil arms dealer Richard Roper hosts for his overblown entourage at the Ca’s Patró March restaurant in Cala Deià, northern Mallorca. This restaurant – serving grilled seafood platters and Mallorcan Nou Nat chardonnay – is on a cliff above a small cove and likes to attract the cognoscenti – which is why you won’t find a website.•+34 971 639 137

Maricel Hotel and Spa, Calvià

The terrace where Roper and one of his inner circle, Sandy Langbourne, talk dirty deeds is played by the luxurious Maricel Hotel and Spa – “one of the most emblematic and prestigious hotels on the island”, according to its website, with belle époque interiors, and an excellent bar. Thursday night is jazz night, so non-residents can pop in for a cocktail (about £8). It is in Calvià, just south west of Palma – follow the signs for Magaluf, basically, but if you hit Del Boy’s Pub, you’ve gone too far. Far too far.•Doubles from £200 B&B, hospes.com

Iglesia de Santa Eulalia, Palma

The church where Burr quizzes lawyer Juan Apostol (Antonio de la Torre) is supposed to be in Madrid but is in fact the Gothic bulk of Iglesia de Santa Eulalia in Palma, whose architecture is as typically Spanish as a plate of garlic prawns. The 13th-century church, with tall spire and huge windows, was massively restored in the 1800s. The square outside – and the building – are free to look round. Walk south from Palma’s main square, Plaça Major.

Blackpool Mill Cottage, Devon

Jonathan Pine’s home when he goes under cover as Jack Lindon is Blackpool Mill Cottage, in the grounds of 12th-century Hartland Abbey, which is actually the “cherished home” of Sir Hugh and Lady Angela Stucley. The Stucleys haven’t been shy about promoting the farmhouse and its small-screen credits – but then, if you owned a cottage that had been in Sense and Sensibility and The Night Manager, would you be coy? It is on the north Devon coast, near Bideford, but the South West Coast Path passes by, if you want to have a peek on the cheap.•£1,120 for a week in April or May, sleeps up to eight, hartlandabbey.com

Son Julia Hotel, Llucmajor

The place where Pine gets steamy with Roper’s girlfriend Jed Marshall (Elizabeth Debicki) is the Son Julia Hotel near Llucmajor, south-east of Palma. Dating from the 15th century, with Arabian gardens, it has had a recent makeover with handmade carpets and local art. There’s a terrace with a grill and no fewer than three pools. This hotel also doubles for one that’s supposed to be in Istanbul in the scene where Pine talks to Rob Singhal (Adeel Akhtar). Enjoy a couple of G&Ts in the bar for under a tenner.•Doubles from £140 (price goes up sharply in summer), sonjulia.com

London

Victoria House, Bloomsbury, was rigged up like the Foreign Office. Photograph: Alamy

You don’t have to go too far to scope out locations from The Night Manager. Some filming took place in London. Parts of the show were shot by the Thames on Millbank in Pimlico, where Burr and Joel Steadman discuss hoodwinking MI6 to protect Pine. The neo-classical Victoria House on Bloomsbury Square in central London, was decked out to look like the Foreign Office, and another location was the Blue Fin Building in Southwark Street, south London – whose interiors doubled for MI6’s HQ in Vauxhall. The Blue Fin is actually full of journalists working for Time Inc magazines, such as Marie Claire and NME. There’s a cafe on the ground floor of this building where anyone can grab a cup of tea.

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